Management Risk Factors for Calf Mortality in Intensive Italian Dairy Farms

Zucali, Maddalena; Bava, L.; Tamburini, A.; Guerci, M.; Sandrucci, A.

doi:10.4081/ijas.2013.e26

Cited by 26 publications

(31 citation statements)

References 18 publications

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“…Stillbirth rate and calf mortality in this survey were similar to that reported in a survey of intensive dairy farms in Italy (Zucali et al, 2013), and higher than that in a survey of pasture-based farms in New Zealand (Cuttance et al, 2017). Calf mortality rates vary substantially among studies, as shown by significant heterogeneity (Cochrane's Q test) in a systematic review and meta-analysis conducted by Compton et al (2017).…”

Section: Stillbirths and Heifer Mortalitysupporting

confidence: 78%

Canadian National Dairy Study: Heifer calf management

Winder

Bauman

Duffield

et al. 2018

Journal of Dairy Science

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In the past decade, substantial changes have occurred in the way dairy heifer calves are managed. The objectives of this study, part of phase I of the 2015 Canadian National Dairy Study, were to examine heifer calf health and adoption of rearing practices, and to explore factors associated with different rearing strategies on Canadian dairy farms. The questionnaire was open to all licensed dairy producers in Canada and had a 12% response rate (n = 1,373). Fifty-one percent of respondents reported never allowing heifer calves to nurse their dam, and 17% always removed calves within 30 min of birth. Sixty-seven percent reported always feeding heifer calves 4 L of colostrum within 12 h of birth; 17% always fed colostrum between 2100 and 0400 h; 5% pasteurized all colostrum fed on farm. Seventy-seven percent of respondents reported calving and stillbirth information for 2014; the mean reported stillbirth rate was 4.9% (SD = 3.3). Forty percent housed calves in individual pens, 34% in group pens, 21% in individual hutches, 2% reported tethering calves, and 1% used group hutches. Of those who housed calves in groups, 59% reported a maximum group size of 3 to 10 calves, 31% reported a pair (2) of calves per pen or hutch, and 10% reported a group >10 calves. The maximum amount of milk offered to calves per day during the preweaned period was a mean of 8 L (SD = 3). Fifty percent of respondents reported mortality data for 2014; mean preweaning mortality was 6.4% (SD = 8.3), and postweaning mortality was 2.4% (SD = 4.4). Over 95% of producers reported disbudding practices; 86% used cautery, 11% used surgical amputation, and 9% used caustic paste. Twenty-eight percent reported disbudding at less than 3 wk of age, 60% at 3 to 8 wk, and 22% at 8 to 16 wk; 5% of respondents reported dehorning at more than 16 wk of age. Sixty-six percent of cautery users reported use of local anesthetic, 33% used sedation, and 25% used a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID). Multivariable regression models showed that the use of local anesthetic when disbudding calves was associated with social media activity (odds ratio = 2.3) and high-speed internet access (odds ratio = 2.0), whereas sedation was associated with geographic region, and NSAID use was associated with disbudding at more than 3 wk of age. Exploring heifer rearing management practices, including adoption of best practices, may help focus future education and extension efforts. Poor reporting of mortality data may reflect a lack of recordkeeping on farm.

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Section: Stillbirths and Heifer Mortalitysupporting

confidence: 78%

Canadian National Dairy Study: Heifer calf management

Winder

Bauman

Duffield

et al. 2018

Journal of Dairy Science

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“…By law, calves are allowed to be kept in individual pens up to 8 weeks of age, covering the majority of the preweaning period, if not otherwise specified by the veterinarian [40]. According to previous studies, housing calves in individual calf pens in early life is known to protect for mortality compared with group housing, where the risk of mortality tends to increase with group size [20,21,25,33,41].…”

Section: Risk Factors Associated With Calf Mortality Ratementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Numerous studies have arrived at the conclusion that on-farm mortality has a high between-herd variation [11,25,26], indicating that dairy cattle health and welfare vary heavily across herds and it would therefore be worthwhile to analyse the differences in their management systems. Identifying herd-level risk factors for onfarm mortality is highly relevant for many stakeholders such as farmers, veterinary advisors and authorities, and of great value especially for larger herds where intervention can positively affect a larger number of animals.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Herd-level risk factors for cow and calf on-farm mortality in Estonian dairy herds

et al. 2020

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Background: On-farm mortality (unassisted death and euthanasia) is the unwanted loss of animals, and it comes with negative economic consequences. On-farm mortality rates reflect a herd's animal welfare status. The objective of this historical longitudinal single cohort study was to identify the associations between herd characteristics, animal housing conditions and management routines and within-herd calf and cow mortality rates in participating Estonian dairy herds. All farmers enrolled in the voluntary production recording system with a herd size of 20 or greater cow-years in 2015-2017 were contacted by mail or telephone between October 2017 and March 2018. The survey included questions about management routines and housing conditions of calves up to 3 months of age and of cows. In total, 214 completed questionnaires were returned, corresponding to a 63.3% response rate. The withinherd mortality rate of calves (aged 21-90 days) and cows (cattle over 24 months of age) in years 2017-2018 were calculated and used as outcome variables. Negative binomial and linear regression models were applied for risk factor analysis in calf and cow datasets, respectively. Results: The median within-herd mortality rate for calves aged 21 to 90 days was 0.15 per 100 calf-months (quartiles 0.00; 0.36). The median within-herd mortality rate for cattle over 24 months of age was 4.57 per 100 cow-years (quartiles 2.44; 6.86). Factors significantly associated with increased mortality of calves were larger herd size, higher proportion of stillbirths and abortions in a herd, prophylactic administration of vitamins to all calves and housing preweaned calves in single pens only compared with housing in both single and group pens. Also, farmers who attended more frequent trainings had higher calf mortality rates. Calving in a group pen or in a tie-stall compared with calving in multiple systems was associated with higher calf mortality rates. Higher cow mortality rates were present in herds that had a higher proportion of stillbirths and on farms where employees handled cows. Housing cows in free-stall barns, grazing cows and more frequent hoof trimming were protective for cow on-farm mortality. Conclusions: This study identified the importance of housing conditions for on-farm cow and calf mortality rates. Our study results suggest that providing good care might ensure better health and welfare of dairy cows and calves.

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“…It can be concluded form this result that nearly all farmers of the study area had a fair knowledge about timing of colostrums feeding. However, it was observed that if calves receive colostrums by suckling than those fed using other methods, have a higher mortality rate (Gulliksen et al, 2009) and a delay in colostrums feeding increases calf mortality (Zucali et al, 2013). Moreover, the odds of having diarrhea was higher in calves <3 months of age that was provided colostrums by suckling (Svensson et al, 2003).…”

Section: Advances In Animal Andmentioning

confidence: 99%

Survey of Calf Management and Hygiene Practices Adopted in Commercial Dairy Farms in Chittagong, Bangladesh

Chowdhury¹,

Barua²,

Rakib³

et al. 2017

Adv. Anim. Vet. Sci.

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IntroductIon Livestock is an inherent element of the compound farming system in Bangladesh as it besides a source of meat and milk protein, a prime source of farm power services as well as employment. The livestock sub-sector dispenses 20% and 50% of the total population a full time employment and part-time employment, respectively. The contribution of the livestock sector to total gross domestic product persisted steady within a range of 2.1-3.6% over the 1973-2008 periods. Despite a steady contribution to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), budget allocation for this sector remained <1% of the total expenditure. Moreover, it was revealed that the growth in individual livestock products were mainly in minor products (e.g., tails, bones, etc.) and hides and skins (a major export item) rather than in milk and milk products, meat and eggs might not be very motivating because such tendency will lead to less imresearch Article Abstract | A survey was conducted to characterize calf management and hygiene practices adopted by dairy farmers at Chittagong, in Bangladesh. A total of 210 dairy farms located in 3 geographically distinct regions in Chittagong division, namely coastal, hilly and plain area, were surveyed. Calf management and hygiene practice related data was collected through a standard questionnaire and all sampled farms were visited once by technical persons and administered the questionnaire by 'face to face' method during the period July, 2015 to May, 2016. Statistically significant variations were observed in distribution of different factors through different strata (herd size and region). Among larger farms (>50 cows), 10% had a poor hygiene score whereas 32% of the smaller farms (5-20 cows) belonged to this category. 97% of the large farms used tube well water as the source of drinking water for their calves; whereas 35% of the small farms used surface water. None of the large and medium farm owner said they never clean the calf pen; 47% small farm owners said yes to it. More than half of the smallholders (54%) were discovered with raising other domestic animals and birds within the same premises. Hygiene score and surrounding environment of the farms did not show any regional variation (p>0.05). Remarkably 65% farms of the hilly area used surface water for their calves to drink with. The relationship between management practices and calf mortality/morbidity is complex. Our study design did not allow us to draw conclusions about the management and hygiene practice responsible for calf mortality/morbidity, but knowing the management practices adopted on farms is valuable for bringing attention to herds with less optimal practices and for planning meaningful experiments to explore causal affects.

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Management Risk Factors for Calf Mortality in Intensive Italian Dairy Farms

Cited by 26 publications

References 18 publications

Canadian National Dairy Study: Heifer calf management

Canadian National Dairy Study: Heifer calf management

Herd-level risk factors for cow and calf on-farm mortality in Estonian dairy herds

Survey of Calf Management and Hygiene Practices Adopted in Commercial Dairy Farms in Chittagong, Bangladesh

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